S.I. No. 246/1977 - European Communities (Feeding Stuffs) (Tolerances of Undesirable Substances and Products) Regulations, 1977.

I, JAMES GIBBONS, Minister for Agriculture, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive No. 74/63/EEC of 17th December, 1973, as amended, hereby make the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Feeding Stuffs) (Tolerances of Undesirable Substances and Products) Regulations, 1977.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of September, 1977.

2. In these Regulations—

"the Annex" means the Annex to the Directive which Annex is contained in the Schedule hereto;

"authorised person" means a person authorised in writing by the Minister for the purposes of these Regulations;

"complementary feedingstuffs" means mixtures of feedingstuffs which have a high content of certain substances and which, by reason of their composition, are sufficient for a daily ration only if they are used in combination with other feedingstuffs;

"complete feedingstuffs" means mixtures of feedingstuffs which, by reason of their composition, are sufficient for a daily ration;

"the Directive" means Council Directive No. 74/63/EEC of 17th December, 1973¹ as amended by Commission Directive No. 76/14/EEC of 15th December, 1975² and Commission Directive No. 76/ 934/EEC of 1st December, 1976^3;

¹ OJ No. L 38/31. 11/2/1974.

² OJ No. L4/24. 9/1/1976.

³ OJ No. L364/20. 31/12/1976.

"feedingstuffs" means organic or inorganic substances used singly or in mixtures, whether or not containing additives, for oral animal feeding (and includes complete feedingstuffs, straight feedingstuffs and complementary feedingstuffs);

"Member State" means a Member State of the European Communities;

"Minister" means the Minister for Agriculture;

"straight feedingstuffs" has the meaning assigned to it by the Directive;

"third country" means a country or territory which is not a Member State;

"undesirable substance or product" means a substance or product specified in the first column to the Annex.

3. These Regulations apply to feedingstuffs, other than feedingstuffs which are shown to the satisfaction of the Minister to be,

( a ) intended for export to a third country, or

( b ) intended to be used for any tests or experiments or for any scientific purpose, being tests, experiments or scientific purposes which have been approved by a Minister of State.

4. (1) The amount of any undesirable substance or product contained in a feedingstuff mentioned in the second column of the Annex opposite the mention of the substance or product in the first column of the Annex shall not exceed the maximum content specified in the third column of the Annex opposite the mention of the feedingstuff in the said second column.

(2) The reference in the second column of the Annex opposite the mention of an undesirable substance or product to a complete feedingstuff shall in a case in which there is no mention in that column opposite the mention of the substance or product of a complementary feedingstuff, be construed as including a reference to a complementary feedingstuff.

(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this Regulation, where a complementary feedingstuff is such that were it diluted in accordance with instructions issued by its manufacturer and printed on, or on a label attached to, its packaging, or in case the complementary feedingstuff is delivered in bulk, on documents accompanying the feedingstuff, the resulting feedingstuff would comply with the requirements of paragraph (1) of this Regulation, then the said requirements shall, as regards the feedingstuff, be regarded as having been complied with.

5. A person shall not—

( a ) place on the market,

( b ) use to feed livestock,

( c ) have in his possession for such use,

a feedingstuff to which these Regulations apply and which contains an undesirable substance or product unless the feedingstuff complies with Regulation 4 of these Regulations.

6. (1) Subject to paragraph (6) of this Regulation, an authorised person may at all reasonable times enter,

( a ) any premises in which he has reasonable grounds for believing that,

(i) feedingstuffs are being manufactured, placed on the market or stored for placing on the market, or

(ii) feedingstuffs which are used to feed livestock are kept, or

(iii) feedingstuffs which have been landed or otherwise brought into the State are kept,

( b ) any railway waggon, vehicle, ship, vessel or aircraft in which he has reasonable grounds for believing that feedingstuffs are being either transported for placing on the market or kept for the purposes of such transport or for use in feeding livestock,

and there or at any other place,

( c ) make such examinations, tests and inspections, and

( d ) take such samples of any feedingstuff or any other substance which he reasonably believes may be used to feed livestock and which he finds in the course of his inspection,

as he may consider appropriate for the purposes of these Regulations and the Directive.

(2) Every person who has on any premises any feedingstuffs shall at all reasonable times—

( a ) afford to an authorised person such facilities and assistance as are reasonably necessary for an inspection and taking of samples pursuant to these Regulations or for such an inspection or for such a taking,

( b ) give an authorised person any information which he may reasonably require regarding the purchase, importation, sale or use of the feedingstuffs,

( c ) produce to an authorised person any document relating to the feedingstuffs which the authorised person may reasonably require and permit the authorised person to inspect and take extracts from such document.

(3) In addition to the foregoing, any person who carries on the business of manufacturing, packaging, processing or marketing of feedingstuffs shall,

( a ) keep records of his transactions regarding feedingstuffs,

( b ) produce at the request of an authorised person any such records or any books or other documents relating to the said business which are in the possession or under the control of the person carrying on such business,

( c ) permit any authorised person to inspect and take extracts from such records, books or other documents and give to the authorised person any information which he may reasonably require in relation to any entries therein,

( d ) afford to any authorised person such facilities and assistance as are reasonably necessary for inspecting the stock of any feedingstuffs on any premises on which such person carries on such a business,

( e ) give to an authorised person any information he may reasonably require in relation to such transactions, including in particular, information which he may reasonably require regarding any feedingstuff specified by him, whether imported from other Member States or from third countries.

(4) Where a sample is taken pursuant to this Regulation, the authorised person concerned shall divide the sample into not more than four equal parts each of which he shall mark.

(5) In proceedings for an offence under Regulation 8 of these Regulations the result of any test, examination or analysis of, or any report on, a sample taken pursuant to this Regulation shall not be adduced unless before the proceedings were instituted one of the parts into which the sample was divided (as required by paragraph (4) of this Regulation) was left with or transmitted to the defendant.

(6) Nothing in this Regulation shall be construed as enabling an authorised person to enter a dwelling.

(7) An authorised person shall be furnished with a certificate of his appointment as an authorised person and when exercising any power conferred on an authorised person by these Regulations shall, if requested by any person affected, produce the warrant to that person.

(8) Any person who obstructs or interferes with an authorised person in the course of exercising a power conferred on him under this Regulation shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100.

7. (1) Where a sample of a feedingstuff is taken pursuant to these Regulations by an authorised person and is found on official examination not to comply with a requirement of these Regulations, then the Minister may require that the feedingstuff shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of in such manner as the Minister shall determine.

(2) In case the Minister makes a requirement under this Regulation the following provisions shall apply;

( a ) he shall inform in writing of the requirement the person who is in possession or control of the feedingstuff to which the requirement relates,

( b ) where such person is so informed, pending the disposal of such feedingstuff in accordance with the requirement, the feedingstuff shall be moved only with the consent of an authorised person, and

( c ) the person in such possession or control shall dispose of the feedingstuff, or cause or permit it to be disposed of, only in accordance with the requirement.

8. (1) Any person who contravenes Regulation 5 of these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £200 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both the fine and the imprisonment.

(2) If any person fraudulently—

( a ) tampers with any feedingstuff so as to procure that any sample of it taken pursuant to these Regulations does not correctly represent the feedingstuff, or

( b ) tampers or interferes with any sample taken pursuant to these Regulations,

he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £200 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both the fine and the imprisonment.

9. An offence under these Regulations may be prosecuted by the Minister.

10. In any proceedings for an offence under these Regulations in which it is proved that the feedingstuff to which the proceedings relate did not comply with the requirements of Regulation 4 of these Regulations, it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove that he did not know that the feedingstuff failed so to comply and that having regard to the manner in which he acquired the feedingstuff it would have been reasonable for him, in the circumstances of the case, to assume that the feedingstuff was one which complied with the said Regulation 4.

SCHEDULE.

GIVEN, under my Official Seal, this 2nd day of August, 1977.

JAMES GIBBONS,

Minister for Agriculture.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations, which implement the provisions of EEC Directives 74/63/EEC, 76/14/EEC and 76/934/EEC, fix the maximum permitted levels of certain undesirable substances and products in animal feeding stuffs which are (a) sold, supplied, offered, exposed or kept for sale or otherwise placed on the market; (b) used to feed livestock; and (c) kept for such feeding.